Chapter 169: Departure

June 11th Morning, Strangers Street, Helm Ville.

It was around 10. A.M.

A group of four kids, an old man, and one skinny adult woman stood at the entrance of a single-storied house. All of them appeared to be well-dressed and seemed to be waiting for someone.

A few minutes later, a four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage came from the opposite direction and soon stopped in front of the opened fence gate. The carriage appeared rather polished in brown paint, while the horses looked healthy and appeared white.

As the wheels made a screeching noise, a 25 year old young came jumped down from the driver seat and bowed his head towards Charles and the kids.

He was the renting house agent, Finn.

Yesterday, Charles personally went to his house and asked him to arrange a good carriage at the cost of 50 gold coins.

Thankfully, there was an unused carriage in the small town, so Finn went to the owner's house and brought it immediately.

After greeting Charles and the kids, Finn took out a small leather pouch and searched to give the remaining amount.

Amused by his actions, Charles waved his hand and said.

"Keep the money."

"Teacher-" Jessie was about to retort but soon swallowed her words and sighed helplessly.

She knew that her teacher was a kind man, so she gave up on arguing about wasting money.

But she already swore in her mind that she would never let her teacher do the financial work!

'If he gives all his savings to others like charity, we might end up with nothing one day.' She grumbled inwardly, used her hand to adjust her whirly blonde hair, and went towards the wooden door.

She wore a plain sleeveless brown shirt, black pants, and regular leather shoes and appeared more like a young girl from the rural town.

Meanwhile, chubby-faced Noel took the long whip from Finn's hand and started climbing towards the driver's seat.

Then, Charles, Titus, Rhea, and Ashley followed after Jessie, entered the carriage, and sat comfortably on the seats.

Once Noel confirmed that everything was set, he whipped the horses and turned the carriage towards the main street.

After that, the four-wheeled carriage soon left the Helm Ville through the western gate and started moving into the Redstar woods.

As the carriage started moving deep, Rhea opened the red curtain on her left side and glanced at the beautiful trees and plants with her marble-like black eyes.

After glancing at the scenario for some time, she closed the curtain, turned her gaze towards Charles, and asked.

"Teacher, you are a Fire Mage, right?"

At that moment, Charles sat on the opposite seat with closed eyes and was in the middle of deep thoughts.

He quickly opened his amber eyes and nodded.

"I'm a Rank-4 Blaze Sorcerer."

"Rank-4?!" Jessie, Titus, and Rhea became stunned for a moment.

Soon, they recalled their teacher's might and nodded their heads in understanding.

On the other hand, Charles smiled mysteriously and spoke.

"But you guys should aim higher. Everyone has their own goal, so don't sacrifice your goal for others."

"I want to become the wealthiest person in the world." Suddenly, Jessie raised her hand and said with a smile.

"Rob the bank." Both Rhea and Titus said at the same time.

Meanwhile, Charles's lips began to twitch as he saw an excited expression on Rhea's face.

'You are going to be a ruler... Haa, did they get affected by my habit?' He shook his head and spoke.

"It will be a tough path, lass. Your opponent is not a Mystic, but a Goddess."

Upon hearing those words, Jessie's smile stiffened.

She quickly pinched her chin and corrected.

"I want to become a rich person in this world."

Meanwhile, Titus fell into deep thoughts and shook his head.

"I don't have any goal. As long as I protect my sister and my friends, I'll be happy."

At that moment, Rhea suddenly removed the curtain, stuck her head out, and asked in a loud voice.

"What is your goal, Noel?"

Upon hearing Rhea's words, Noel's face suddenly turned red for some odd reasons. He hurriedly shook his head and stuttered.

"I-I will tell you when the right time comes."

"Right time?" Rhea glared at his back in dissatisfaction and soon retracted her head into the carriage. Then, she turned her gaze towards Ashley and asked in curiosity.

"What is your goal, Miss Ashley?"

"My goal is to protect you, Your Highness." Ashley adjusted her long white gown and responded instantly. 

She had long turned into Rhea's maid and even acted like one.

The only thing that she didn't have was a maid outfit!

"That's your duty. I'm talking about your goal." Rhea grumbled inwardly, then shifted her gaze towards Charles and asked another question.

"Teacher, can I choose [Astrologer] class as my second class?"

A startled expression appeared on Charles's face.

"Why do you want to become an Astrologer?" He stared at her in curious.

"I want to be like Destiny Lady. I heard that she is a water mage and also has the power to change one's fate. If I become someone like her, I don't need to worry about my fate, right?" Her eyes shone in resolution.

"You seem so talkative today," Charles commented in the same old man's voice and added.

"If that is what you want, go and choose that path. But you must be always careful of 'Irregulars.'"

"Irregulars?" This time, Jessie tilted her head in confusion and looked at him for answers.

"You will learn about them when the time comes." He suddenly paused for a moment and then added.

"Enemy is coming towards us. I will be back in a few minutes. Rhea, their target might be you, so be careful of the surroundings."

Before Jessie and others could understand his words, his figure turned into a crimson flame and then disappeared from the seat!

A moment later, a humanoid flame suddenly appeared 500 meters above in the sky before forming into the appearance of an old man.

After that, Charles shifted his attention to the spell models and cast [Fallen Angel's Wings] on himself.

The next instant, two eerie blackish-red wings appeared behind his back, opened wider, and started flapping from time to time.

Simultaneously, his eyes turned pitch black.

'My evil character is reappearing.' A frown appeared on his forehead.

"Mr. Runeth, turn into a bracelet." He ordered.

An instant later, the black cane let out a vibrating noise and soon transformed into a red-gem embedded bracelet.

Charles swiftly caught the bracelet, wore it in his hand, and used his wisdom power to scan the surroundings.

'Oh? Three consciousnesses are coming from the south... All of them seemed to be powerful.'

"This fight is going to be a tough one, lad." The Holem's Crown said in a calm tone.

"Hmm? Rank-3 Mage? They really did send three Rank-3 Mages!" But Charles wasn't anxious at all.

Honestly, he was excited to kill the same ranked mages.

'Don't help me unless I'm forced into a bitter position.' He muttered inwardly, took out the Starfall Codex magic book, and opened it. 

He then flipped the pages before stopping it on page no.12 and started to chant calmly.

Soon, he saw three figures flying in his direction at full speed.

Within a few seconds, they arrived in front of him and sized him up and down calmly.

One was a silver-haired woman in a red robe, while the other two were men in grey robes.

The man in the lead appeared around 60 to 70 years old, had grey hair, a long beard, black eyes, thin eyebrows, and two transparent wings appeared behind him.

The next one was a black-haired man, around 30 years old. He had a pale face, deep-set brown eyes, and similar two transparent wings behind his back.

The last one was the silver-haired woman, who had silvery eyes, an oval face, and looked younger than the black-haired man.

At that moment, Charles also finished the chanting silently, closed the book, and stored it in his space ring.

But his gaze was glued on the crimson wings that appeared behind the silver-haired woman.

'Fire Mage.' A cold glint appeared in his eyes.

"Are you guys from Nobles' Faction? Or the Royal Faction?" His eerie old voice echoed in the sky.

At that moment, a disdainful expression appeared on the silver-haired woman's face.

But before she could say something, Charles used [Cryptic Analysis] skill and spoke with a sly grin.

"Daisy Elliott... 230 years old... Rank-3 Ember Wizard...Constructed four Rank-3 spell models... Heh, you are also a Rank-2 Nature's Child, huh."